We are considering a 1985 28.5. I am wondering what would be a fair price to pay for this boat. It has the original main and headsail (19 years old), and would need new sails. The last bottom job was 4 years ago, and the bottom has lots of growth from lack of cleaning. Thus, would need new bottom. Do not know now whether it is shoal or deep keel. Unaware of whether there is any blistering as the boat is currently floating in about 45 degree water and I won't jump in to look! Freshwater kept for the last 7 years (southern US), before that unknown. Standing rigging looks good, but running rigging is old and we would likely replace it (all rigging is stock configuration - no performance enhancements). No furler. Boat appears to be in good overall condition, and all canvas covers were replaced last year (no cruising canvas). Will have it hauled and surveyed if we reach agreement on price. State charges and sales tax add about 8% to purchase price. Looking for any thoughts on a target price from a buyer's perspective based on the assumption that all systems are go. Thanks for your thoughts.
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mine's an 87
In 1997, I paid about 21K for my 1987, 28.5. As I recall, the 85 thru 87 were pretty much the same with few changes, but you better check me on that. I say that because I had heard about a problem with the compression post and stress fractures, but I also recall that it was on the 83-??. I've tracked the prices since and that was about average price then. It's keeping pretty good value and I see several on the market in the last year or so between 16-18K. Mine had fairly new sails, auto-pilot, and quite a few yard improvements. No blisters and Im not aware that Hunter has shown many problems in that regard. Check your rudder however, for sure. Mine was pretty much mush on the inside and the previous owner had it repaired when this came up in the survey. I've heard that this might be a regular problem to expect. Love the boat, the yanmar is great. Hope this helps
In 1997, I paid about 21K for my 1987, 28.5. As I recall, the 85 thru 87 were pretty much the same with few changes, but you better check me on that. I say that because I had heard about a problem with the compression post and stress fractures, but I also recall that it was on the 83-??. I've tracked the prices since and that was about average price then. It's keeping pretty good value and I see several on the market in the last year or so between 16-18K. Mine had fairly new sails, auto-pilot, and quite a few yard improvements. No blisters and Im not aware that Hunter has shown many problems in that regard. Check your rudder however, for sure. Mine was pretty much mush on the inside and the previous owner had it repaired when this came up in the survey. I've heard that this might be a regular problem to expect. Love the boat, the yanmar is great. Hope this helps
Our 285
Tom, I purchased our 1987 Hunter 28.5 on December 1, 2001 for $20K. At the time she had (and still does) an auto helm, original sails which we are still using because they were in good shape (we've had them clean and some repairs done), a bimini (which we're replacing this year) and all of the other "usual" items found on most 285s of that year. We, of course, had a survey done and I took her out for a sea trial. There were no blisters on the hull or delamination on deck. The rudder was another story. It was delaminated in many places and I rebuilt it last winter for about $300 but that's another story in itself. I've been told (as a joke) that the 285 came from the factory with delaminated rudders! A bit of an exaggeration but not too far from the truth. My surveyor said he's never seen a 285 without rudder problems but they can be fixed. Some of his comments about my boat on the survey were..."the overall condition of the vessel is good. Surveyed out well for a vessel of its age. I place the value for the vessel at $20,100." Sounds to me that you should be looking at spending less for the boat as you describe it. In my "unprofessional" opinion around 18k or less. Even less if there are required repairs to be done by you and not the current owner. We had our previous owner do a few things. The 285 is a very nice boat and we love sailing her on the bay with the shoal draft. However, expect to do some necessary improvements and some for a better sailing experience. Since I bought "Grace" I've added a dodger, battery charge, new batteries, battery monitor, waste water/fresh water/fuel monitor, GPS, dingy, carry on AC, stripped off all the old vinyl striping and replaced it on the hull, re-finished all of the outside teak (hand rails and helm seat). This winter I'm adding an anchor roller, new steaming/deck light, TV antenna, new bimini and replacing all of the old style gate valves with ball valves. I was suppose to do that last winter but pushed it through the summer where the sea water intake valve broke. I had to have the boat hauled out for the repair. The Yanmar is a great little engine and the boat can turn on a dime. Backing up is another matter because of the prop walk and almost no rudder response until you get moving a bit. Still, all in all, I'm very happy with the boat. I've attached a photo I took of her last summer during a visit to Rock Hall, Md.
Tom, I purchased our 1987 Hunter 28.5 on December 1, 2001 for $20K. At the time she had (and still does) an auto helm, original sails which we are still using because they were in good shape (we've had them clean and some repairs done), a bimini (which we're replacing this year) and all of the other "usual" items found on most 285s of that year. We, of course, had a survey done and I took her out for a sea trial. There were no blisters on the hull or delamination on deck. The rudder was another story. It was delaminated in many places and I rebuilt it last winter for about $300 but that's another story in itself. I've been told (as a joke) that the 285 came from the factory with delaminated rudders! A bit of an exaggeration but not too far from the truth. My surveyor said he's never seen a 285 without rudder problems but they can be fixed. Some of his comments about my boat on the survey were..."the overall condition of the vessel is good. Surveyed out well for a vessel of its age. I place the value for the vessel at $20,100." Sounds to me that you should be looking at spending less for the boat as you describe it. In my "unprofessional" opinion around 18k or less. Even less if there are required repairs to be done by you and not the current owner. We had our previous owner do a few things. The 285 is a very nice boat and we love sailing her on the bay with the shoal draft. However, expect to do some necessary improvements and some for a better sailing experience. Since I bought "Grace" I've added a dodger, battery charge, new batteries, battery monitor, waste water/fresh water/fuel monitor, GPS, dingy, carry on AC, stripped off all the old vinyl striping and replaced it on the hull, re-finished all of the outside teak (hand rails and helm seat). This winter I'm adding an anchor roller, new steaming/deck light, TV antenna, new bimini and replacing all of the old style gate valves with ball valves. I was suppose to do that last winter but pushed it through the summer where the sea water intake valve broke. I had to have the boat hauled out for the repair. The Yanmar is a great little engine and the boat can turn on a dime. Backing up is another matter because of the prop walk and almost no rudder response until you get moving a bit. Still, all in all, I'm very happy with the boat. I've attached a photo I took of her last summer during a visit to Rock Hall, Md.
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28.5
Tom, I tend to always check on Yacht World looking at 28.5 to see how well they are holding up in the market. They seem to be all over the map from $16K-$27K. I think the boat you described would be in the $16K or lower range. Boat seems to be a stock boat and needs to be upgraded. New sail's Main, Blade Jib, and a 150 will be $4K-$6K depending on what sail's you buy and if you go for the Roller Furling. If it is a shoal draft it will not perform as well and will be more tender than the deep draft. For me it would mean new sail's new running Rigging New bottom and some odd's and ends. So you might be able to buy the boat cheap but need to up grade it. This being the case add another $6K to the price you get it at. On the other hand you could buy the boat sail it like it is and upgrade when you can. But you must join the Hunter 28.5 Group on Yahoo that I started. Email me for more Info on the group. We are a group of 28.5 sailors all connected and talk about making our 28.5's nicer and faster. cliffr@sbcglobal.net Cliff H 28.5 "Red Dog"
Tom, I tend to always check on Yacht World looking at 28.5 to see how well they are holding up in the market. They seem to be all over the map from $16K-$27K. I think the boat you described would be in the $16K or lower range. Boat seems to be a stock boat and needs to be upgraded. New sail's Main, Blade Jib, and a 150 will be $4K-$6K depending on what sail's you buy and if you go for the Roller Furling. If it is a shoal draft it will not perform as well and will be more tender than the deep draft. For me it would mean new sail's new running Rigging New bottom and some odd's and ends. So you might be able to buy the boat cheap but need to up grade it. This being the case add another $6K to the price you get it at. On the other hand you could buy the boat sail it like it is and upgrade when you can. But you must join the Hunter 28.5 Group on Yahoo that I started. Email me for more Info on the group. We are a group of 28.5 sailors all connected and talk about making our 28.5's nicer and faster. cliffr@sbcglobal.net Cliff H 28.5 "Red Dog"
Boat prices are probably best determined by doing some generic research (NADA and other sites),and then comparing the result to what boats sell for in your local area (ads and brokerage listings), and then making the hard choice of deciding how much is this particular boat worth to you. Boats sell for what a buyer is willing to pay,not what the seller wants. I would guess the range for a boat you described would be in the 14k-16k range for asking prices. As Cliff notes, you are probably going to have to upgrade a few things and add some new stuff. You cannot expect a seller to eat the entire cost of those things, but a seller ought to be flexible and be prepared to accept some part of them. People who list their boats for sale with at a "firm" price are people who are not going to sell their boats for a looooooong time. In my area of the Cheasapeake, it is customary to offer sellers of used boats about 90% of their asking price, and then negotiate further based on the results of the survey and sea trial. As an aside, I agree with Cliff that the deep keel model will outperform the shoal model on some points of sail. The real question is how and where you will use the boat. If you race, and race in deep water, the deep keel model is propably a good choice. If you just cruise and like to gunk hole in shallow creeks and anchorages, the shoal model will be a better choice unless you like to practice your ungrounding techniques.... Good luck. These are decent boats at decent prices.
looked at 28.5 / 1986 in FL
last Fall, the Boat was in bad shape and asked 18.5k, but the broker said 14k would buy her. Ended up buying a Hun 31/1984. It needed some TLC + bottomjob. But sails were good + spinnaker. Paid 16.5k in 11/2003. So far so good. Good luck Siggi
last Fall, the Boat was in bad shape and asked 18.5k, but the broker said 14k would buy her. Ended up buying a Hun 31/1984. It needed some TLC + bottomjob. But sails were good + spinnaker. Paid 16.5k in 11/2003. So far so good. Good luck Siggi
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